It was Airiana who pulled away from him, her heart beating too fast, the blood rushing through her veins, adrenaline pouring into her body. She turned away from him without looking at his face. She knew it already, every line, every plane, his masculine jaw that could be set so stubbornly.
She went barefoot, using air to cushion her feet. She pulled the door open slowly, knowing Maxim would fade into the background like he did, but would be in the precise location to see as much as possible when she pulled the door as wide as it could go.
A man stood to one side of the door and his assault rifle was pointed squarely at her head. She stopped, her eyes going wide with fear, her empty hands clutching at her heart. "What's wrong?" she asked, looking around her as if expecting to see pirates.
"Where are the others?" he asked, never wavering for a moment.
"With my father. He asked me to take a walk around the deck for a few minutes. Is something wrong? Should I get him?" She glanced at her watch. "He said he needed to talk to those other men and Maxim alone for about ten minutes." She half turned as if she would go back inside.
"No, your father's right. Take your walk." He lowered his weapon and indicated her feet. "What happened?"
"Maxim dropped a glass when those other men came in and I stepped on the shards. One of them helped me." She smiled at him and stepped around him with a little cheery wave.
Relief flooded her. He'd bought her story. It was plausible. The three agents entered, and of course her father would send her out before they killed Maxim. The guard probably figured they'd kill him and toss his body overboard while she was taking her little stroll. If she were lucky, he'd go in to help the others. She'd left the door cracked partway just to entice him.
You were born for this kind of work.
The grudging respect in Maxim's voice settled her churning stomach. She had been most careful not to block his line of fire to the guard, just in case.
My guardian angel, she replied back. Her palm itched and she rubbed her thigh absently. Thank you. You gave me confidence.
He gave a little cough of derision. I've been called many things in my life, but guardian angel is not one of them.
I guess no one's ever gotten the chance to know you. I'm coming up on the two on the west side. They're crouched low and both have their weapons trained on me.
She heard his curse echoing through her mind, but as she approached the two guards, she blocked out everything but her story, needing to believe it herself. Both men rose, looking around as if expecting an army with her.
"Hi. I'm Airiana, Theodotus's daughter." It was shocking to say the words aloud, almost as if just by saying such a thing she was betraying her country. "My father told me to take a stroll around the deck. Is it okay to come on this side?"
One of the men lowered his weapon, nodding his head. "Of course it is. Don't get too close to the rail. The ride is fairly smooth, but the ocean can act up at any time."
"What's your name?" She tried to look friendly as she took another couple of steps to get closer to them.
"I'm Akim and that's Feliks." He indicated his partner.
Feliks lowered his rifle as well, giving her a tentative smile, looking her over, not as a potential enemy, but as a woman. She widened her smile to include him.
"Do you know my father?"
Both shook their heads. Feliks stepped closer to her, into her personal space. He actually put a hand on her shoulder as if to steady her. She shot him in the neck with the dart gun and turned to fire the second shot at the other guard as Feliks went down, shock on his face.
Akim threw himself on the deck and kicked out at her, hooking his ankle around hers and bringing her to the ground hard. She retained her hold on the dart gun, and rolled over and over to try to put space between them. On the second roll she fired another dart at Akim. It hit his thigh, but fell to the deck.
Akim punched her hard in the eye. She actually saw stars. One moment the world was right and the next it was spinning like mad, the edges blurring and stars rushing at her from every direction. She went down, her legs turning to rubber, stomach churning, her vision blurring. She managed to raise the dart gun as he came at her again. Squeezing the trigger, she fell back, hitting the back of her head on the deck.
Akim's eyes filled with fury as he slapped at the small dart that had hit his arm. He swung his fist at her face a second time. She closed her eyes, but the blow never landed.
Akim flew backward, and Maxim was there, kicking the gun away and stepping in close to deliver three wicked punches to Akim's face. Each blow knocked the man backward until he was up against the railing. Maxim's elbow smashed into his face and then he reached down as if he might upend Akim over the railing into the water.
"Stop," she blurted out. "Just stop. He's done."
Maxim let go of Akim and the guard toppled to the deck, his legs no longer supporting him. He turned slowly to look down at her, sprawled as she was between the two downed agents.
She couldn't imagine what she looked like, but blood trickled down her face from the cut up by her eye. She wiped at it with her hand and managed to smear it.
Maxim winced visibly. "Don't. You do that again and I'm throwing the bastard into the sea." He crouched down beside her and touched the swelling around her eye with gentle fingers. "Remind me never to listen to you again."
"I distracted them," she pointed out, and tried to sit up.
He instantly swept his arm around her and helped her into a sitting position. For one moment her head seemed to explode and then it settled down again into a pounding rhythm. There was a roaring in her ears that hadn't been there before.
"Maybe I need to lie down," she said. She didn't want to throw up on him, not after trying to prove a point. No one had ever really hit her before. Not like that. She'd worked at self-defense in the gym, but neither Levi nor Thomas ever punched her in the face. When they broke through her guard, they pulled their punches.
Maxim gathered her up and lifted her right off the deck. "I'm going to put you in a lounge chair while I clean up this mess. The last thing we want is for the steward to see all the guards looking dead on his deck."
"They aren't dead, are they?" she asked suspiciously.
She didn't bother to look but laid her head against his shoulder and let him carry her to the forward deck. He felt solid, and she could feel his every muscle ripple subtly while he carried her.
"No, but I'm still considering killing them on principle alone," he warned. "Next time, don't let anyone punch you. It upsets me to see bruises on you."
"So next time I'll just let them know you'd be really unhappy if they decided to hit me." In spite of still feeling a little sick and her head wanting to explode, she couldn't help the laughter welling up. He wasn't finding anything humorous about it all, which made it all the funnier to her.
"Maxim, really, I'm all right. I wasn't fast enough getting off the second dart, that's all."
"You kept your head and your weapon," he said. "I'm proud of you."
She didn't point out that he didn't sound proud, he sounded surly. "Do you think you could find me something to drink after you take care of all the guards? What are you going to do with them?"
"Actually, they aren't technically guards, they're assassins. They were sent here to kill me, not guard you. Just to clarify." He settled her carefully on one of the plush loungers, in the shade on the owner's private deck.
"I didn't think of them like that," Airiana said. "I might change my mind and let you throw them overboard after all."
He did laugh then. It wasn't long or hearty, but he did give her a small laugh. "That's my girl. Let the bastard punch you in the face and we have to play nice, but someone threatens me and they can go overboard."
"Well, I do have my priorities," she answered.
He pulled out his first aid kit and broke open a gel pack. "Keep this over your eye until I get back. I won't be long." He put a cushion behind her head.
She st
retched her legs out and took the cold pack gratefully. The instant cold took some of the sting from her swelling eye. "Don't be long. I feel vulnerable and a little exposed lying here. And I'm not certain I could get up if someone threatened me."
He put the dart gun next to her hand. "You can always get up if you need to, Airiana. It's a matter of will."
She knew he would always get up, even if it was with his very last breath. He was made that way. Or trained that way. She preferred lying on the lounger and waiting for him to bring her back a bottle of ice-cold water. She planned on fantasizing. She was on the yacht with him. No killer aboard. Lying in the sun and maybe dozing off.
Airiana waved him off and closed her eyes. She had a vivid imagination and was going to use it. Weren't they somewhere off the beautiful Mexican coast? She could get behind that. She needed a vacation . . .
Are you certain he didn't give you a concussion?
Don't rain on my parade. This yacht is the real deal. If we didn't have all those killers aboard, and we weren't heading to Colombia so they could fly me to Russia where I'd be a prisoner the rest of my life and probably tortured on a regular basis, I think I could make this a fun trip.
You're a little crazy, you know that?
She loved the amusement in his voice. She was in his mind and there was little that amused him. Little that mattered in his world at all. But she did. He hadn't meant to let her inside, but he had and now it was too late. She was there and she loved being that one. The only one.
Well. Yes. Probably. I might be a little crazy, but it's the only way to be in your company. Has it ever occurred to you that you attract the wrong kind of people?
I do what?